They know how to get us to the destination! Thank God for the Administrators.

One of my heroes of the Bible – Nehemiah – was a classic ‘Administrator.’ And with Nehemiah’s administrative gift, God gave the directions for getting his people back to their homeland.

You can recognize this gift in very young children. Take my granddaughter Kaleah for example. She would take charge of board games, actually playing for both she and her sister if the game bogged down. She organized most of what she encountered, like a sheep dog tries to herd any animal or even humans around it. It’s no wonder she has a degree in business and the start of a satisfying career.

It’s a valuable gift to have around you when you’re not sure what to do, because an ‘ Administrator’ is more than glad to tell you. However, these are not ‘busybodies’ into everyone else’s stuff. They respect authority and will not take charge unless it’s delegated to them (or there’s no one else stepping up to do what needs to be done.)

These people stand on a taller hill than those around them. They see the big picture, the long view. They easily see what needs to be done, then work and delegate others to complete the task. They read people quite well and can usually fit the right person into the right job.

But often, their greatest contribution is in organizing. They quickly see solutions and implement a course of action. They are typically great communicators and use voice, diagrams, graphs and any other aid necessary to get everyone on the same page.

Their place in God’s Kingdom is pretty key. Joy comes to them by seeing what needs to be done and they seeing that it happens! While ‘Perceivers’ and ‘Teachers’ keep us on a spiritual track, the ‘Administrator’ keeps us on a logistical path. Without these folks, we tend to wander.

In the two and a half years I got to be an interim Senior Pastor, God gave me an amazing man with this gifting to be an associate. He saw things I hadn’t noticed. He saw potential issues before they were issues. He was a wonderful teacher, using any method he could to get people to see the direction they needed to be heading. I would have been lost without this gift working beautifully through him.

If achievement, challenge (“Just tell me it can’t be done and then turn me loose!”), delegating, projects and organization get your motor running … you just may be an ‘Administrator.’

Next week: Compassion